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Marriott already has a strong presence in London with 10 very centrally located hotels and, counting the Starwood properties, that number increases to a very impressive 17. However, apparently 17 isn’t enough for the guys in Betheseda because Marriott has recently announced that it will open a new Westin in central London in 2020.
The Westin London City will be the first Westin branded property and will straddle Upper Thames St. in the City of London.
A Google Maps image from September 2017 shows that the construction of the building was already quite advanced even back then:
The property will offer 220 guest rooms (including 29 suites and a Presidential Suite) and, according to Marriott, will be designed to expertly balance a “calming palette of natural colours with contrasting tones, textures and materials“.
As you’d expect, all the hotel’s rooms will feature Westin’s signature services and amenities, such as the Heavenly™ Bed and the Heavenly™ Bath.
The Westin London City will incorporate an indoor swimming pool, an “idyllic” spa (measuring over 4,000 square feet in size), and a gym with state of the art TRX equipment.
If you’re into your fitness you’ll probably be pleased to hear that the hotel will offer the RunWESTIN™ program with three and five-mile jogging routes along the Thames riverfront and will also offer Westin’s Gear Lending program which lends guests New Balance shoes and clothing for use during their stay – that’s great if you need to pack light.
More details of the gear lending program can be found via this link.
Thoughts
With its location so close to the heart of London’s financial center it would be easy to categorise this more as a business hotel than one for those looking to explore the city….but that would be a mistake.
The hotel’s positioning on the river Thames should give guests some fantastic views across to the Southbank and the property’s proximity to the Millennium Bridge and St Paul’s Cathedral will give guests easy access to some of London’s more iconic sights.
Tower Bridge and the Tower of London will be a 15 – 20 minute walk from the hotel, Shakespeare’s Globe theatre will be a 10 minute walk away and, if walking isn’t for you, there will be four underground stations and two mainline stations within a half mile radius.
This could be a very good place to be based and, if the hotel does get categorised more as a business persons property, it may well offer up some great deals on weekends (read this post to find out more).
Marriott may already have a lot of properties in central London but all of those are grouped quite close together near Mayfair, Piccadilly and Leicester Square – the Westin London City may become a nice alternative.
Featured image – Marriott
